My name is Tiffany and my furbaby is Cosmo. He is 11 years old, but very full of life. He was recently diagnosed with diabetes (about 2 months ago) and has been slowly losing weight since then.

We are not 100% regulated, but getting closer. Cosmo is a 35 pound lab mix (was about 45 pounds prior to this experience). He is up to 15 units Humulin N, 2x per day. We are not currently home testing, but after reading through the forum I have made the decision to purchase a meter and attempt it.

Forgive me if this has been asked, but I did read through recent posts and didn't see anything quite like this. Our vet immediately put him on Hill's W/D canned (1/3 can) and dry food (1 cup) twice per day and we did okay with that for a bit.

Fast forward a few weeks, and Cosmo would not touch the W/D Dry even when mixed with the canned. We have transitioned him over to Wellness Core Reduced Fat dry food mixed with the canned WD. Unfortunately, he is still dropping weight.

Is there anything we can do to help him maintain/gain weight? Anything safe for us to add to his meals/snacks? Once he is regulated, will this stabilize on its own? I'm very concerned, because no matter how much we are able to get him to eat, he is still wasting away.

Any thoughts, ideas, or input you have are sincerely appreciated. Thank you!

i am going through the same thing my dog nibbles. read his thread below.this time last year we were trying to make his lose weight because he weighed around 65lbs. now he's 35lbs. he was also diagnosed with cushings and but on medication that i believe took away his appetite. everyone here is very helpful and will begin to post. i just went and biought puppy food for him tonite and he ate it all! it's so hard looking at them so thin. i don't think i even realized it until recently how bad it got.he's is also a very picky eater.

Welcome to the forum! Although I have no experience with needing my fur baby to gainweight, I'm sure someone will chime in with some suggestions, because others here have been through similar experiences to yours.

For now, I just want to encourage you; this is a great place for support. The more information you can give us about Cosmo, the better. Congratulations on deciding to test his BGs! The results will give you and us some idea of what might be going on.

I know it's frustrating to watch, but remember: Cosmo doesn't know he has diabetes. He's one lucky pup to have a HumanMom who cares and is doing so much for him.

Don't worry about posting too much or asking questions which have been asked before. You couldn't possibly read all the posts here and know what's already been said. Someone may point you to some threads which might be helpful to you.

Hang in there! Watching and cheering you on,

Mary

__________________Ruffles was a Cairn Terrier mix born May 1997~~RIP 12/6/2010~~She was "a heartbeat at our feet"~~Gone, but not forgotten~~Izzy--BD unknown;~~ RIP 7/13/2013 ~~; she was a sweet Yorkie spirit and we miss her
Bella--Yorkie rescue; BD 9/2013 +/-; she's 6 lbs. of pure energy!

Glad you've decided to home test!! Makes dealing with a picky eater a lot easier

My Tiggy is also very picky, so much so that at the beginning I would sit on the floor and hand feed her!!! My vet also suggested a prescription diet, but I knew she wouldn't go for it, so I basically kept her on the same kind of food she's always eaten. Even doing that she began to loose weight at the beginning. I decided then that I had to increase her food intake and adjust her insulin accordingly.

Instead of feeding her the same food every day, I go by calories. She's 15lbs and gets 500 calories a day (up from 400). I feed her 1/3 cup boiled chicken, 1/3 cup wet dog food, 2 Tbs chopped thin spagetti and 1 tsp benefiber per meal...... I vary the varieties of wet food so that she'll eat, but they all have about the same amount of caloric content. This has worked pretty well for us. She's doing great and maintains a healthy weight!

Patty.... One of the admins on the forum gave me this web site when I was worried about her weight loss. Check it out, it might be of some help!!!

Part of the problem with uncontrolled diabetes is that sustained higher blood sugar levels prevent the body from utilizing the nutrients efficiently. So you could feed as much food as you wanted but without adequate insulin to carry the glucose into the cells, it stays in the blood stream and the dog continues to lose weight.

The good news is that most dogs are able to regain the weight lost as their blood sugar becomes better controlled.

Do you know what his blood sugar was on his last curve at the vet's office? If not, I would ask for copies of this.

Also, do you know approximately how many calories he was eating to maintain his weight prior to diabetes? I would calculate how much you're giving now to see if it comes close to that. Often with the w/d, you have to feed more of it to match the calories of some other foods. The link Sandy gave has 2 calculators that can help estimate how much he should get for what you consider his ideal weight.

Glad you're considering home testing. It's a great tool to have. I like the OneTouch Ultra2 meter. Amazon carries it for around $20 vs. $65 in retail stores. The test strips are usually the most exensive part. I buy mine on ebay (watch for good expiration dates and factory sealed boxes). Others use Amazon or other online sources for cheaper strips.

Depending on where you test, I also like the AccuChek Softclix lancing device (not the plus or multiclix).

Hope that helps. Again, welcome to you!
Patty

__________________Patty and Ali13.5yrs 47lbs diagnosed May '08 Ali earned her wings October 27, 2012, 4 months after diagnosis of a meningioma~ Time is precious ~

You've located a great resource here and everyone will be willing to help with suggestions and sharing experience. My vet also suggested Hills WD kibble with Hills WD can...my guy was on Wellness super 5 mix prior to that. He wasn't crazy about the kibble or can at all but after reading the forum I came up with a diet he LOVES...

I mixed the WD kibble with the wellness super 5 mix in 70/30 mixture. (70% hills/30% wellness) I then took the can of food and put it in the blender with 1-1/2 cans of water added and blended to make a gravy. Since my guy loves chicken, we boil boneless chicken breasts and shred them up, store in tupperware.

HE LOVES IT......of course you will have to determine what quantities to feed for your size dog. After loosing almost 19 pounds in total my guy has been stable now at 125 pounds for several weeks. He was only diagnosed 6-7 weeks ago and was dropping weight fast. For his bone structure both the vet and I think that is his ideal weight.

Anyway, you will get lots of great ides and information here....welcome again. We look forward to hearing your progress so post and you WILL get a lot of support. Great to hear you are willing to do home testing...If I had to pick one thing that will improve your success at controlling diabetes that would be it!

Like Cosmo, Ozzi lost quite a bit of weight in the beginning of his diabetes diagnosis. He lost 16% of his body mass, and from my calculations, Cosmo has lost 22%. I don't think this is unusual at first, although it is alarming to us. As Patty pointed out, it's really about regulation, at least in the beginning.

How are Cosmo's BG numbers running? If you can post his last curve, that would be really helpful. Regarding home testing, I was happy to see you write that you are willing to learn! I know I sound like a broken record, but I'll say it again. I believe that home testing is the single most important thing you can do for your dog.

Sometimes dogs with high sugar eat like crazy, and sometimes the high sugar can make them not feel well, so they won't eat. It varies because all dogs are different. With better regulation, I suspect you will see Cosmo at least maintain his weight, and I would look at that as a short term goal, and then consider weight gain as a longer term goal, unless he is in fact already running between 100-200 during the day.

Welcome to the forum. Ask questions like crazy and give us as much information as you can. Everyone here is awesome and will help you in every way possible.

Thank you all so much for the warm welcome! I have spent hours upon hours reading, crying (some of the interwebz make it sound like a death sentence), and trying to figure out what the right things to do are. It is wonderful how supportive of a group you have here!

I don't know what his curve looks like exactly, I will need to check with the vet. I know his # last time we went in was in the high 300's in the AM, after meal but before insulin shot. The vet did not seem alarmed, and increased his insulin from 12 units twice a day to 15. It all seems so arbitrary. I feel confident that I will understand this a lot more once I can home test.

Our vet is super sweet to Cosmo and cares for him very well, yet they are not very supportive when I ask about home testing and what to feed him...so that's why I am here. We are going rogue.

Abby lost alot of weight (some of which was good) initially... She lost a good 8-10 lbs. She has been steady, but one thing I did add to her food, which seemed to help quite a bit, was prozyme. This aids in digestion, and also will soothe some upset tummies as well.

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